


This dance we do, to the siren's call

by Teriyakinoodles



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Demons, F/M, Kylo is an incubus, Mention of Kylo with someone else prior to meeting Rey, Mention of Somnophilia, Mythology - Freeform, Rey is a witch, Seer, Slow Burn, Somnophilia, TentaKylo, Tentacle Sex, Tentacles, This is like cottagecore/ye olde timey witches not like hogwarts witches, Witches, but like with tentacles, incubus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:07:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24665875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Teriyakinoodles/pseuds/Teriyakinoodles
Summary: When Kylo meets Rey, the fiery witch who lives alone in her cottage, he asks for her help with making a potion. She has no idea that he’s a demon, a tentacled incubus that prey on women as they sleep. As the lines between friend and foe blur, she finds herself dragged into a conflict between a monster hunter, a man who doesn’t want to be a monster anymore, and her increasingly frequent visions about a lonely boy, who just wants to find his place in the world.
Relationships: Kylo Ren & Rey, Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 13
Kudos: 39





	1. West, the place of darkness

**Author's Note:**

> A MILLION thank yous to my beta [RamboBrite!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamboBrite) who gave me fantastic pointers and invaluable insight <3 
> 
> [ ](https://imgur.com/nrgj0Vj)   
>  [](https://imgur.com/H3hdeFi)   
> 

Rey stands for a moment, taking it all in. This cottage had clearly been abandoned. A few cracked windows left glistening shards of glass in the overgrown weeds below. She peered around a wide tree trunk to get a good look at the roof. Some slates were missing, but overall it wasn't derelict, she could save this place. She could turn it into her home. 

_ Home.  _ A foreign word to her. 

The mud squelched underneath her boots as she neared, freshly wet from the recent rainfall. She approached to get a closer look, avoiding the daisy patches that flanked the cobbled stone path. Adjusting the sack over her shoulder that contained the entirety of her belongings, she broke into a tentative smile at the sight before her.

Ivy grew in thick ropes across the exterior, the leaves red and crisp in the late autumn air. As she neared, she reached out a hand to touch one delicately, feeling the rough stone wall that hid beneath. 

Entering the cottage felt like a monumental occasion for her. Her sack thudded heavily down onto the floor, and Rey was too distracted by her surroundings to relish in the literal weight lifted off her shoulders. A large room greeted her just inside the doorway, followed by a smaller kitchen through a door to the back, housing a sizable pantry within. A flight of stairs, mercifully intact, led to one large bedroom. From here, she had a view of the back of the cottage. An outhouse, suggesting a working toilet, she couldn't believe her luck. 

Tall trees surrounded her here, green as far as the eye could see. The smell of cedar and rain permeated the air and nearby birds whistled along with the breeze. She'd spent so long in the barren wastelands, far south from here, where her only company was the hot sun scorching her back and the dune lizards that bit at her toes. Now here she was, surrounded by  _ life.  _ She couldn't believe someone would let this beautiful place go to ruin. 

She descended the stairs with a spring in her step, it didn't matter who had this place before her or for what reason they had left it. It was unclaimed land, and with enough protective warding, she could be safe and happy here. 

_ This is it _ , she thought,  _ my home.  _

She was crouched on the floor, elbow-deep in her travelling sack looking for her pack of dried figs when it happened. Her vision blurred, then darkened, and suddenly she was elsewhere. An open field surrounded her, a murder of crows circled overhead, cawing loudly, though she could scarcely hear anything but the wind blowing a gale, whipping her hair from its bindings and lashing her cheeks. 

Rey stood, and at the same time, a boy emerged from the west, sprinting, small feet kicking up tufts of grass. He stumbled as he ran, falling to the ground more than once, his wavy black hair cutting into his eyes, but kept on rising and running, face flecked with dirt, knees muddy and bleeding. 

She watched until he disappeared, and the vision faded. Slowly, the cottage came back into view. She was panting, her heart was racing, but she knew it would ease soon, as it always did. The things she saw rarely made sense to her, so she'd long since stopped giving it further thought. They always seemed to follow the same theme, either this stranger - a boy, or her. Never together. She rather thought they came from two separate worlds, but there was never enough detail in the images to give her any further clues. Sometimes they were young, sometimes they were old, sometimes she saw through their eyes, but they were never together. On two separate paths. 

She stood, brushing the dirt from her knees, figs in hand, and turned in a wide circle, putting all thoughts of what she'd seen from her mind, and instead focusing on her plans for the cottage. Her  _ home _ _.  _

It took a few weeks after that - Rey preferred cleaning the old fashioned way, without magic - but before long, the cottage was perfectly livable. She spent her days in her kitchen, sweating over her cauldron and brewing her special blends of potions. On the weekends she travelled to the nearby village square to sell them, making a name for herself as the helpful, if not sometimes prickly, witch who made the most effective potions in this corner of the kingdom. 

Before long, the large front room in her cottage was filled with items. Towering shelves groaned under the weight of bottles and vials of potions, ingredients and crystals. An assortment of cauldrons and brooms lined the walls. Every now and then a villager or a passing witch would seek out her shop as she brewed and boiled new concoctions and old favourites alike. 

She was happy, like this. If it was sometimes lonely, Rey didn't pay it any mind. The stray ginger cat who sometimes visited helped with the isolation, but otherwise, she was content to live in her little bubble full of green grass and rainy breezes. It was a far cry from where she had come from, and she wasn't going to complain. 

\---

_ Fuck.  _ He's done for this time. 500 years on this Earth, give or take a few, and he's finally fucked up one too many times. 

He'd let his hunger get the better of him. He couldn't be blamed, after all, it was in his nature to seduce sleeping women, but he'd tried to ignore it for  _ so long.  _ He didn't want to be a monster. Just, sometimes the hunger got too much and he got weaker and weaker until he simply had to find someone to satiate the unfathomable emptiness inside. 

It's not his fault he chose the Mayor's daughter. In his defence, she was being awfully receptive to his advances, enough so that he was naive - he left her awake while he took what he needed from her. His first mistake. She had wandering hands, this one. He was distracted, didn't pin them down, his second mistake. She'd ran a hand down his back, digging in her nails, and stopped short when she felt his tentacles. Kylo was so engrossed in  _ finally  _ getting his fill and wetting his dick that he didn't know what was happening until her shrill scream cut the air. Alerted by the noise, her door had burst open - unlocked, his third mistake - to reveal her extremely angry father.

He'd not even had time to grab his clothes, hauling himself through the first-floor window and landing heavily on his ankle that gave a suspicious crunch. He took off towards the woods amid shouts and flying arrows, ducking as one whistled past his ear, entirely too close for comfort. 

He forced his way through overgrown bushes and low hanging branches, desperately trying to put more distance between himself and the men chasing him. He was easily a head taller than even the biggest mortal man, his long legs making quick work of the ground beneath him. But luck was not on his side - as he zigzagged away from a burning arrow, his swollen ankle throbbed and he slipped on a patch of wet grass. He tumbled down the banking that led to a river, scrabbling in the sodden grass, trying desperately to right himself as he heard his attackers getting closer. 

Kylo's eyes darted around, desperate for an escape. He was powerful, but with this recent unsuccessful feed, it had been a long time since he'd replenished his strength. By the shouts and heavy footfalls, at least a dozen men were on his trail, the mayor and his servants, at a guess, and he didn't know if he could fight them all off without getting seriously wounded. 

He stumbled a few more steps, splashing into the reeds, and made his choice. He focused his energy, transforming fully into a monstrous creature, bones snapping and cracking as they made way for long, slithering tentacles where his legs should be. Gills erupted in his neck, slicing open the flesh and leaving him gasping. He quickly threw himself into the water, swimming down to the riverbed where he would be hidden from view. 

The transformation finalized as he drew in lungfuls of muddy water. His eyes sharpened in the murky depths and his sensitive ears picked out the sounds from above. Thundering feet sounded nearby, coming to a halt near where he lay still. 

_ "Where has he gone? He was here a moment ago!"  _ he heard one of the men shouting gruffly. 

_ "Look, there! The water's been disturbed, he's swam for the other bank!"  _

Kylo kept as still as possible, ignoring the fish swimming by that nudged at his drifting tentacles. 

_ "There's a bridge upstream, we'll pick up his trail, he can't have got far soaking wet,"  _ the first man shouted back. 

He heard their footfalls receding into the distance, but stayed where he was. 

Mercifully, in perhaps his first bit of good luck, he heard the patter of raindrops upon the river. Minutes passed and eventually, he heard them circle back, approaching the river from the opposite side. He listened as they shouted between themselves, blaming his missing footprints on the rain. They took off quickly, searching beyond the river and further into the woods, away from him at last. 

Kylo waited a few more minutes before emerging from the depths of the water. He withdrew the transformation, clambering out of the reeds and hacking up the water that remained in his lungs. He hated this part. His natural state was his humanoid body, six tentacles protruding from his back, with two long horns parting his hair. Aside from using up his energy, his fully transformed state was painful and inconvenient to hold. 

He pulled himself up, ignoring the injured ankle that felt even worse now. Heavy rainfall soaked his naked skin. He needed to find shelter immediately. 

He travelled with haste, slowed by his ankle but still wary of the search party that trawled the woods for him. Eventually, Kylo happened upon a cave, deep enough to provide shelter from the rain, and overhanging with ivy that obscured the entrance. 

He sighed as he entered, sinking down onto the cold, damp floor and wincing at the sting in his ankle. It would heal as he slept, he'd be better by morning. 

A chill ran through him, and he briefly considered lighting a fire before thinking better of it. He didn't want to broadcast his location right now. Sleeping naked and wet in a damp cave in autumn might have killed a mortal man, but Kylo would survive, as unpleasant as it will be. 

He curled up on the cold stone floor, lamenting all the choices he'd made that led him to this undignified moment, and sank into a fitful sleep. 

Dawn arrived far too soon, and Kylo awoke with a squint as the sun shined through the ivy at the entrance of the cave. The rain from the night before had dried, and he shivered in the cold morning air as he tentatively checked on his ankle. 

He turned it this way and that, and finally satisfied that it had healed, he rose to his feet, stretching and relishing in the cracks that came from his aching bones. 

Kylo looked down at his naked state. He was on the opposite side of the village from where he lived, having run towards the nearest woods to escape the mayor and his men. That meant he needed to walk the long way back home, avoiding the village square and keeping hidden in the trees. It would take a while, but as he ducked out of the cave, he saw that it was early enough for most of the villagers to still be asleep. 

Kylo considered himself for a moment before deciding to cast a rudimentary spell to disguise his tentacles and horns. He was first and foremost a demon, an incubus to be exact, and this natural magic allowed him to transform at will between his humanoid form and his underwater tentacled form. Yet he needed to rely on spellwork in order to appear fully human, a state which was unnatural to him. His only problem was that he wasn't particularly well versed in this kind of magic, he didn't use it very often, instead preferring to keep himself secluded at home. 

He spoke the incantation and felt an odd sensation as if cold water was trickling down his body. He patted his head, feeling only shaggy black hair and peered over his shoulder, noting the absence of tentacles, before setting off home. 

Kylo walked for miles through the thick woods, hoping that he was going in the right direction, swearing every time his legs were stabbed by thorny brambles, which happened often. 

After what felt like hours, he emerged into a clearing, only it wasn't his house that he found. A quaint cottage came into view, entombed in ivy and surrounded by flowers and potted plants. He quickly doubled back, hiding behind a thick tree trunk as he scoped out the place.  Kylo felt a strange feeling within, a pull, almost, a whisper under his skin that bid him to move closer. 

He blamed it on his hunger, though the feeling was disconcertingly novel , and focused, listening intently, until his sensitive ears picked up the quiet sounds of a woman sleeping. 

_ A maiden, unclaimed and unprotected, in her bed _ , he thought, instantly excited and alert. She smelled delicious, his thoughts were instantly full of fantasies of her writhing in bed beneath him. He dashed forward, hand reaching out to push the door open - but as it connected with the wood, a huge  _ zap  _ shocked his fingertips. He pulled his arm back with a gasp, eyes darting around for an explanation to this unexpected assault. 

There, by the side of the door, was a sign leant up against the house. It read,  _ beware, trespassers of ill intent, a witch lives here.  _

With great difficulty and a scowl on his face, he stepped back, away from the cottage. It was evidently warded against anyone who might do her harm. He wouldn't have  _ actually  _ hurt her, rather, in his opinion, he would have made her feel very good indeed. This was clearly advanced magic, to hold a demon like him at bay. Clever little witch. 

Kylo turned, muttering under his breath and deciding to vacate the area promptly before she woke up. He looked back up at the sky, gaining a rough estimate of the direction he needed to travel, then continued on his way. 

Thankfully, it wasn't long before he came across recognizable landmarks and found his way home. It was only as he ducked to enter the threshold and his horns bumped against the door frame that he realised his spell must have worn off long ago. It only proved to sour his mood further, his ineffective magic wouldn't do if he needed to travel into the village for provisions. He could chance things before, but not now the whole town would be on the lookout for the tentacled beast that tried to ravage the mayor's daughter. 

He slammed his door shut in annoyance, deciding to heat himself some water for a hot bath, and put all thoughts of the last 24 hours far behind him. 

As Kylo sank into the steaming hot water, his thoughts drifted back to the mysterious sleeping witch in the cottage. He was hungry beyond belief and longed to go back to her after nightfall, but he knew better than to get on the wrong side of a witch. Come to think of it, she might be just the person to help provide him with a more effective transformation spell, as long as she didn't suspect what he truly was. 

He smirked to himself as his heart started racing at the thought of having her. He quickly squashed his desires, though, it was bad enough that the whole village would be on the lookout for him, he didn't need a witch on his case, too. 

Kylo dipped his head below the water, slicking his hair back and enjoying the feel of the hot water soaking his muscles. His tentacles draped over the sides of the bath, dripping water onto the floor. Despite his promise to himself not to get involved with the witch, he was looking forward to visiting her and asking if she could help him with his transformation spell, he was dying to see what she looked like. 


	2. The open sea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you [RamboBrite!](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamboBrite) for being such an awesome (and patient) beta! 

Sand. So much sand. Rey looked around her quickly, eyes wide with panic. Her breath caught in her throat, a strangled cry working its way out of her mouth unbidden. Dunes, as far as the eye could see, huge rolling hills of creamy yellow against a stark blue sky. 

On the horizon, waves of heat emanated from the ground, and she could feel the hot sun baking her skin. She took a step, though in what direction she didn’t know - there was nothing but sand whichever way she looked. 

The moment her foot came down, the floor swallowed her up. Coarse, hot grains entombed her calves, her thighs, her hips, rising higher and higher. She was outright screaming now, begging someone,  _ anyone _ , for help. It  _ burned.  _

It quickly reached her waist, her chest, and she reached out her arms, stretched out her hands, yelling for someone who would never come. She knew, despite her years of waiting, of hoping, that nobody would ever come for her. This place, where she was left all alone, would be her coffin.

As the sand covered her mouth and she choked, clawing at her neck, a loud chime filled her ears. She thrashed and kicked, but the sand was unyielding, hugging her skin like tight leather. The high pitched chiming was soon drowned out as her ears filled with grains, and the last thing she saw was the bright blue sky before darkness took that, too. 

Rey's eyes snapped open and she awoke with a start. Her heart was hammering in her chest and sweat beaded on her neck. It took a moment for her brain to catch up with reality, and as her breathing slowed she realised what the sound was that she’d heard in her dream. 

_ My wards.  _ She jumped out of bed and rushed over to the window, but she couldn’t see anyone. Whoever had tried to enter her home had met her defences and quickly fled. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief, still panicky from her dream, and drew the curtains tight. The spells would wear off by sunrise, and tomorrow nightfall she’d increase the warding, not in any hurry to meet whoever it was that had visited. 

The few hours that remained until daylight was spent resting fitfully, never truly entering deep sleep, troubled as she was by both her dream and the would-be intruder.

* * *

It had been a week since 'the incident', as Kylo had now taken to referring to the awful lapse of judgement that led to him being hunted down and almost caught. 

Now, he stood in front of his mirror examining his reflection carefully, checking that his transformation spell was working. He’d have to go back into the village square today, he was running out of food. He still had a  _ different  _ kind of hunger to deal with, but that would have to wait, as the village would surely be on high alert for nighttime intruders. 

He’d increased the modifications of his spell, practising all night to get it just right. Magic didn’t come easily to him, and he was terrified it would slip whilst he was out. A potion would be easier, but he lacked the ingredients and skill for that too. 

He turned this way and that with a critical eye; his hair was now a short rusty blonde, and his eyes were green. He’d tried to change his facial features, but found that far too difficult, and had smashed his oil lamp in anger when his spell went awry and left him with a duck’s beak for a nose. It had taken  _ two hours  _ for that to wear off, and his temper even longer still. 

He’d settled instead on making his beard invisible, and took almost 16 inches from his height, hoping that he now looked average enough to not awaken any suspicion amongst the townsfolk. 

It was still early morning by the time he was satisfied, and he stepped out into the misty, cold air, the dew from the overgrown grass wetting his boots as he made his way to the market. He looked at the trees in the vague direction of the cottage that he'd stumbled upon that night and he wondered, not for the first time, who it was that lived there, so far removed from the village.  _ Kindred spirits, perhaps _ , he thought, before turning on his heel and heading off into the village square. 

He blamed his hunger for his unusual preoccupation with this stranger, this witch he’d never met but was worming into his thoughts whenever his mind strayed.

Kylo let out a gruff breath, focusing on the task at hand. Soon, he’d made his way into the market, the sellers still setting up their things in the cool glow of the dawning sun. The quiet hum of early shoppers chatting and browsing filled the air. By the time he'd finished, he checked the sun’s position and deemed it nearly noon, and was anxious to get home before the square filled up. 

He turned to leave, but from the corner of his eye, a woman caught his attention. She looked utterly out of place; tanned, freckled, and with a commanding presence about her - but maybe that was the way she was currently yelling at the man behind the stall to offer her a fair price for her bag full of what looked like brightly coloured bottles of liquid. 

Kylo stood for a moment, transfixed, something was nagging at him from the back of his brain, a recollection on the tip of his tongue. This scent, it was the same one he’d noticed back at the cottage.  _ The witch.  _

She was beautiful, entrancing. He sorely lamented the fact that the village was being watchful for him, he'd have loved to try to sneak into her bedroom again tonight. Gods, he was  _ hungry  _ and she looked so  _ perfect _ … 

_ No _ , he thought to himself roughly with an imperceptible shake of his head. He was an incubus, a monster, he could take whatever he wanted to and shouldn't feel bad about doing so, but he didn't want to be this way. He was tired and lonely, after centuries of going from person to person, both women and men, feeding on them and then just leaving. 

This girl, he didn't know her, but she radiated an energy that was too pure for him. The hunger bore a hole through him, but he wouldn't give in to it. He wouldn't take her, just to leave her the next morning. There was something about her, this feisty witch that was taking her payment for the goods and biting the coins in front of the customer to check they weren't fake - he could tell she'd worm her way into his heart. And that wouldn't do. He couldn't let anyone get close, to know what he truly was. He'd be hunted, slaughtered at the first chance. Demons were not good company, and he was no exception. 

With a final glance at her, he turned and quickly made his way into the woods and back home. Tree branches whipped his face and shoulders, and he pushed aside stray vines that he can't remember being a problem on his way to the village square. It was only as a lock of decidedly black hair fell into his eyes, and he reached to push it back and instead felt a horn, that he realised his spell had worn off too early  _ again _ .

_ Shit.  _ He really could use a more powerful spell, or a potion from someone who knew what they were doing. He stifled a sigh. It looked like he would be seeing the witch again after all. 

* * *

It had been a few days since Rey’s most recent trip to the market at the village square, but she’d been so busy with brewing experimental potions that she was still sorting and organising the newest additions to her stock. She was currently brandishing a pipette and a weighing scale, separating her bulk order of frogspawn into smaller vials.

Suddenly, a crash resounded from the front of the store. Rey startled, then hastily set down her vial of frogspawn, rushing to the storefront to see what the commotion was about. 

A man stood amongst the shattered glass, and she paused for a moment as the sight of him took her by surprise; he wasn’t like any of the other men she’d seen in the village. His face was striking, his handsome features making her eyes linger for too long. He was huge, imposing, broad, he looked as though he was simply too large to be allowed in her shop. His sheepish expression looked out of place next to his otherwise intimidating aura. 

"You're paying for that." 

"I'm sorry!" the man said immediately, his deep timbre doing something funny to her insides. She ignored the sensation. 

"Cat whiskers, hornet stingers, oh and look," her hands rested on her hips as she prodded an oozing pile of shimmery purple liquid with the toe of her scuffed pumps, watching as it spread across the tiled floor, "you've even managed to smash the unicorn blood. Do you realise how expensive that is?" 

"I'll pay for it! I'm s-"

"Yes, yes, you're sorry, that's all well and good, but happening upon a fresh unicorn carcass that's still harvestable isn't easy, you know! And I'll be damned if I contribute to the disgusting slaughterhouses that are popping up all over the kingdom!" Rey ranted, grabbing her wand from its holster at her hip and waving it in annoyance. She didn’t expect him to be so agreeable when faced with her temper, but it did nothing to quell it.

The man flinched, hands raised in surrender, but Rey paid him no mind, magically sweeping up the debris and salvaging what she could from the mess. 

She scooped up most of the whiskers, tutted when she saw how he'd trodden on the hornet stingers, and cast one last forlorn glance at the unicorn blood before making it disappear. 

Rey trotted to the counter, busying herself with looking for another container for the whiskers. 

The man in question sidled up to the wooden worktop that separated them, still looking deeply embarrassed and somewhat confused by her lack of approachability. 

"So...can you help me with something please?" he questioned hesitantly. 

Rey finally found the glass cylinder she was looking for, depositing the whiskers and turning back to face him. She considered him for a moment, he  _ was  _ huge. Easily head and shoulders above her, she barely reached his chest. He seemed to withdraw, though, as if to make himself seem smaller. She couldn't understand why, he was handsome, statuesque, his presence commanding, but he looked like he hated it about himself. She didn't know a lick about him, but he seemed like an enigma. 

She wasn't interested in any of that, though. She was still annoyed he'd broken her things and wanted his clumsy ass out of her shop. 

"What are you looking for?" she asked, unbothered that she'd taken her time cataloguing him from head to toe while he waited for her response. 

"I need, uh…" he paused, fishing a crumpled piece of paper out of his back pocket and flattened it out on the counter, "eyes of a newt, uh, I’m not sure how many, so maybe just… four? Then I need… toad’s… breath? I think?" 

"Are you asking me, or telling me?" Rey questioned, half playful, half annoyed. She could see from the man's darting eyes that he couldn't get a read on her and apparently settled on thinking she was just annoyed - if his rising blush had anything to do with it. 

She took pity on him and held out her hand for the paper. 

He handed it over, sighing with relief, and she scanned it briefly before handing it back, humming with approval. 

She squeezed past him towards the shelves, ignoring the way she brushed against his hard chest as she moved, and wordlessly began pulling down vials, jars and various other oddities. She swished her wand and they arranged themselves on the counter, a square of fabric flying down to catch them. 

Rey moved back to the counter, wrapping them up and tying the fabric in an elaborate bow, a shrewd eye on the man and a slight smirk at her lips. 

" _ Two  _ newt’s eyes, bat drool,  _ frog’s  _ breath - not toad’s - blueleaf, nightshade and redcap fungus," she listed, "someone's making a transformation potion." 

The man nodded distractedly, adding a "thank you" before reaching out for his parcelled order. 

Rey pulled it back slightly and stretched out her open palm, "that's 35 dals, and 100 for the breakages." 

"Ah, yes, sorry-" he rummaged in his pockets, pulling out a handful of gold, silver and bronze coins, tipping them messily onto the counter, "keep the change." 

Rey eyed the pile, easily topping 300 dals, and looked back up at the stranger with a questioning glance. His eyes were set on his goods though, still in her grasp, his face set in a serious expression. 

She slid the parcel over to him slowly, thinking to herself before committing to saying it out loud - "you know, it's none of my business, but if this transformation is for a  _ person,  _ you really want to add a drop of their blood and mix it twice clockwise before ingesting." 

The man's face looked stricken, "I do?! Why - what would have happened?" 

Rey chuckled, shaking her head good-naturedly at his naivety, "it's a rare side effect of mixing blueleaf and nightshade.  _ Spontaneous dental hydroplosion,  _ they call it." 

He went a funny shade of pale, "that doesn't sound good?" 

"It's not if you want to keep your teeth in your mouth." 

"Oh...yes, preferably. Thank you for the warning," the tall stranger said before grabbing his parcel, eyeing it somewhat distrustfully now as though it was about to bite him. 

Rey watched him walk away, and he got all the way to the door before she made up her mind. 

"Wait," rang out into the quiet shop. 

Mr tall, dark and broad halted with his hand on the iron doorknob, turning to face her curiously. 

"I can brew it for you. For a price, of course. Otherwise, you'll do something stupid like turn someone into a frog, it's clear you don't know what you're doing," she said, a little rudely, but she  _ was  _ speaking the truth. 

"Unless you already have someone to help you," she quickly tacked on. 

To his benefit, the man only took a moment to consider before nodding gratefully, "no, I don't have anyone to help me, it's just me." 

A loner, like her then. Rey took a moment to consider as she wondered why. He looked a little older than her but was more than strong enough for the manual labour that most women in the village asked for in a partner, and he was pleasant to look at too. 

He must be a gentleman as well, Rey thought, because he didn't mention that he'd already left enough extra coin to cover her brewing fees. 

Maybe they were similar in this way, and he simply preferred to keep people at a distance. 

"Come back in two days with the ingredients and the blood. I'm busy until then," Rey said with finality, and as she turned to busy herself with sorting the coins he'd left, she missed the way his face screwed up in concerned thought. 

A moment passed, then, "two days. That should work. I'll see you then." 

Rey hummed distractedly while the man left, too engrossed in carefully counting out the small piles of money. This was the most she'd made in a long while, and her earnings would see her through until the next moon. She sighed contentedly as she tucked the coins away into a pouch under the counter, thinking happily of the food it would buy her, she might even get her stray cat some fresh fish from the market too - she was feeling generous. 

*

That evening as Rey was writing a list of the stock she needed to buy with her earnings from the day, her thoughts wandered back to the tall stranger that visited earlier. She'd never seen him in the village before, and she wondered if he was new here or if he just liked to keep to himself. Her thoughts kept straying back to his broad shoulders and chest, and she was absently twirling her hair in her fingers when she was interrupted by the sound of her front door opening. 

She walked out to the front room of her cottage, wondering who'd be calling at such a late hour, and stopped short when she saw her shop full of burly, seemingly angry men. In the middle stood a wealthy-looking fellow, wearing the finest suit she'd seen. His face, however, was hugely disfigured, and yet he strolled towards her with a sense of aristocratic superiority. 

The sight filled her with unease. 

"I thought I'd locked that door...I'm sorry, I'm closed until tomorrow morning," she said, peeking around a stout, muscled man to see a suspicious crack in her door handle, and her uneasiness grew. 

"No matter, I'm only here to ask you a question, girl," the rich man stopped in front of her, entirely too close for comfort. 

"You see, nearly a fortnight ago my poor daughter was taken advantage of - almost, fear not, she's still a virgin - and a good job too. In her own bedroom, could you believe it," he paused, whether for dramatic effect or to examine her reaction, she didn't know. 

"I'm… sorry to hear that." 

"Hm. We managed a look at the assailant, tall, dark-haired, and fled into these woods. I don't suppose you've seen him?" 

Rey felt her stomach drop. She had seen someone matching that description, as a matter of fact, he'd been on her mind all day. A transformation potion, he'd wanted - was it to escape the law? He'd seemed pleasant enough, she wouldn't have pegged him for such behaviour. 

She was taking too long to answer, she realised, as the man looked down his nose - or what was left of it - with a shrewd eye. 

"No, I haven't seen anyone of the sort," Rey said with finality. She didn't know why she was lying, only that something about this rich man and his group of lackeys was sending warning signals inside her head, and yet all she'd felt for the dark-haired stranger earlier was pleasant curiosity. 

There was a pause of deathly silence, wherein some of the muscled men took a few steps apart, almost as if to circle her. Her eyes darted around in alarm and she frantically thought about her wand, lying useless on the kitchen table where she'd sat just minutes before. 

She was about to back away, to reach for a nearby potion that would help her - anything, when the suited man lifted his hand an inch. It could be explained as no more than a twitch, but his men were immediately diffused, and yet Rey remained tightly strung and ready for a confrontation. She didn’t trust these people.

"That is unfortunate, Miss…?" 

"Rey," she answered reluctantly. 

"Rey. What a pretty name. Mayor Snoke," he introduced himself with a horrible rasp. 

Her skin crawled as his watery eyes stared into hers and she couldn't wait for him to leave. 

"Please do come and find me or my men if you see anything suspicious. Look after yourself, Miss Rey," he drawled with a lingering, stomach twisting stare, before turning to leave. 

As the last of the men filed out of the house Rey rushed back into the kitchen to grab her wand, hastily repairing the lock on her door and casting strong defensive wards, not relaxing until they’d long gone into the trees and her magical defences hummed in the frigid air like electricity.

That night, Rey struggled to sleep, haunted by the memory of the man, quiet and polite, and the intimidating Mayor who was looking for him. What had he done, was Snoke telling the truth? What sort of trouble was he in?

She twisted and turned, restless in her bed. 

As sleep took her, her vision blurred - the familiar signs of an impending vision. 

The boy, this time no more than twelve years old, drifting out to sea. His dark hair was plastered across his forehead, his arms flailed as he tried to swim fruitlessly. Nobody was around to help him. He was alone and forgotten, like her. 

She wished she could do something to help him, this mysterious child that she caught glimpses of, but she knew that in these visions she was an invisible spectre with no influence on what unfolded. 

As suddenly as the thought had occurred to her, the boy turned his panic-stricken face towards her, meeting her eye with such an intensity that she jolted back. He reached out a hand, sopping wet with saltwater, “help me,” he gasped, “take my hand”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/TeriyakiNoodz)

**Author's Note:**

> I update slow, but comments of encouragement help!  
> Come say hi on [Twitter!](https://twitter.com/TeriyakiNoodz)


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